Reports

NLIHC released Out of Reach 2024: The High Cost of Housing on June 27. Published annually, Out of Reach highlights the gulf between the wages people earn and the price of modest rental housing in every state, county, and metropolitan area in the nation. This year’s report shows that despite rising wages, cooling inflation, and low unemployment, low-wage workers and other renters with low incomes continue to struggle with the cost of rent. The report’s central statistic, the Housing Wage, is an estimate of the hourly wage a full-time worker must earn to afford a modest rental home at HUD’s fair market rent (FMR) without spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs – the accepted standard of affordability. Nationally, the 2024 Housing Wage is $32.11 per hour for a modest two-bedroom rental home and $26.74 for a modest one-bedroom rental home.